Dems "Excommunicated" From Church?

It Begins: Dems "Excommunicated" From Church? [updated w/ VIDEO]http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/5/211218/4946
by georgia10
Thu May 5th, 2005 at 18:12:18 PDT

Democratic Church Purge Part II: Action
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/6/84353/67437
by georgia10
Fri May 6th, 2005 at 05:43:53 PDT

Yesterday, on the National Day of Prayer, we learned that the EastWaynesville Baptist Church in North Carolina essentially kicked out itsDemocratic members. Nine members were "excommunicated" and 40 other members of the 405 member church resigned in protest.From libnnc over at DU:"One of the local women who got excommunicated said on TV that it was like a cult. Another man who got excommunicated said that the rest of the congregation stood up and applauded as the Democrats were told to leave."You can see video of the news segment here, here(thanks Bob Hopkins), here(thanks Christopher Bair) and here (thanks to by foot). Read the blurb of the story on WLOS's site here.Diaries :: georgia10's diary :: :: Trackback :: The pastor, Chan Chandler, is around 31 years old. Apparently, he told the members of the church that if they voted for John Kerry or were Democrats, they were against the church. They had a choice to "repent" their sin or leave. Why should we care? Because this is more about a rogue (hopefully!) church in North Carolina. We have a duty to stand by and support our fellow Democrats and liberals. We have to stand up for Democrats of faith and against the politicization of religion.[Ed] Moreover, as many people astutely pointed out downthread, this not only is something we have to deal with as Democrats, but something that should not have been done /regardless of political affiliation/. TheDemocrat in me is offended by this, but I would be just as upset if the organization had expelled them for being Republicans, or Greens, or for any political reason. This is a broader issue than "they kicked out the Dems,"and I thank those in the thread that emphasized that point.Yesterday, we were shocked and outraged. Today, we act.To that end, I urge all to take the following action:

1. Contact the IRS. Let's make a paper trail.

2. Contact the ACLU in North Carolina at this address: aclunc@nc.rr.com

3. Write a letter to the local newspaper.

4. Contact North Carolina Senators Burr and Dole and urge them toinvestigate the possibly illegal action and to denounce the intolerance:
Richard Burr (R-NC)
(202) 224-3154
online contact form
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
(202) 224-6342
online contact form

5. Contact Minority Leader Harry Reid. He should know about this.
Harry Reid (D - NV)
(202) 224-3542
online contact form

6. Contact your local media and the national media as well:

7. Contact the East Waynesville Baptist Church itself. Let's be polite,but let's tell them how wrong their action is:
175 Woodland Drive
Waynesville, NC
828-456-6841
The minister's address/number is being floated around online.

PLEASE don'tcall him up directly at his home. We can't let outrage fatigue curb our action on this.

This is part of a wider pattern of discrimination against liberals and progressives:Yesterday alone, we saw not only the expulsion of Demcrats from this one church, but also:*Church and pro-life groups have pressured to deny a Judge communion, reportedly because he allowed a 13 yrd old to have an abortion .link.(thanks to route66 for the tip)*

Kansas Governor Sebelius was to give a commencement speech, until she was"uninvited" because of pressure from the Archibishop because she's pro-choice. Read Ohiocrat's diary here.

We can dismiss it as those "crazy fundies" or we can come to the aid of our fellow Democrats and declare that intolerance-- whether it be in a church hall or the halls of Congress--is unacceptable to the Democratic Party.